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Episode 1480: What We’ll Remember About Baseball in 2019
Date December 31, 2019 Summary Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley banter about Kohl Stewart signing with the Orioles, another convoluted Scott Boras quote, and a few of the things Sam learned in 2019 (including Candlestick Park’s “Cardiac Hill,” the sound of Hideki Matsui’s swing, and the disturbing story of “Toothpick” Sam Jones), then discuss what the most defining/enduring baseball memory of 2019 will be. Topics * Defining baseball memories of 2019 * Mariano Rivera and unanimous Hall of Famers * Record breaking contracts and adjusting for inflation * 2019 Houston Astros off-field storylines * Howie Kendrick's World Series game 7 home run * Hal Smith and the biggest non-walk-off home runs * Themes of the 2019 season * Competitive balance * Tyler Skaggs' death and the Angels' combined no-hitter * Changes to the baseball and increased home run rate * Conspiracy theories about the Astros * Upcoming labor negotiations * Nationals run to the postseason and World Series win * Pete Alonso and the rookie home run record * Yankees-Red Sox game in London Intro The Proper Ornaments, "Memories" Outro Uncle Tupelo, "That Year" Banter * Ben is excited that Kohl Stewart, one of his picks in the Episode 1474 minor league free agent draft, signed a major league deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Sam is surprised to see that the Orioles currently have more players listed on the depth chart at first base than in their starting rotation. * Ben, Sam, and Meg discuss a recent Scott Boras quote about Hyun-Jin Ryu. Boras, attempting word play based on the Royal Mounted Police and Ryu's last name, says that the Blue Jays have a "royal youth uprising". None of them think the quote lands, Sam notes that in an uprising, the royal youth are usually on the losing side of the revolution. * Sam says that the recent Boras quote is dad joke humor crossed with something that was put through Google translate three times. * Via the book Death at the Ballpark Sam learns that 19 people died in the early days of Candlestick Park while walking up "cardiac hill" that led to the stadium. The San Francisco Chief of Police died at a Giants' game when he got overexcited during extra innings. * Hideki Matsui once called his hitting coach in Japan to get the coach to listen to (and diagnose issues with) the swing over the phone. * Sam learned about Sam 'Toothpick' Jones, a former player who pitched with a toothpick in his mouth. In 1959 Jones had a toothpick lodge in his throat during a game while covering third base. Notes * What would be remembered from the 2017 season was discussed in Episode 1158. The 2018 season was discussed in Episode 1315. * Sam reads a fake Scott Boras quote submitted by listener Ian in advance of Episode 1468. "I've got a chicken, a fox, and a bag of corn here and I can only take one of them across the river at a time. If you're not careful the chicken could get into the corn, or worse. But I think we've got a big enough boat this year, we'll see how the current is running." * Sam says that he knows one of the producers of the Kids' Choice Awards. * Meg and Sam are skeptical that Howie Kendrick's game 7 home run will have staying power as a memory of 2019, in large part because it happened in Houston and not D.C. * In 2019 the average age of batters (weighted for plate appearances) was 27.9. This is the lowest since 1978. * Meg says that she was saddest that she didn't get to write about the brawl involving Yasiel Puig after he had been traded. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1480: What We’ll Remember About Baseball in 2019 * Mickey Mantle cried after strikeouts and 8 other surprising things I learned this year by Sam Miller * Death at the Ballpark by Robert M. Gorman * SABR Bio for Sam Jones * The year that...: What baseball in 2019 will be remembered for forever by Sam Miller * The Year That...:Finding the single memory that defines each baseball season since 1903 by Sam Miller * How the Baseball Became an Unreliable Narrator by Zach Kram * Baseball's Competitive Balance Problem by Craig Edwards Category:Episodes